Abekawa River
Fireworks Festival

The fireworks festival is held every year in late July on the sandbank of the Abekawa River, a clear stream that straddles the Aoi Ward and Suruga Ward of the city. As one of the largest festivals in Shizuoka, about 15,000 fireworks are set off by four fireworks companies in the prefecture. The large “starmines,” citizens' fireworks with messages, several trick fireworks, and shakudama, and more, are all impressive in their expressive and dramatic power to make the finale more exciting. Since its inception in 1953, the fireworks have been filled with the thoughts of the citizens, including as memorials and requiems to the war dead and prayers for reconstruction, coloring the summer night sky in a spectacular manner.